“Well you need to consult someone!” Kait told him defiantly, her hand unable to hold back her vitriol.“I get that you’re a great fighter, but you’re going to kill yourself if you carry on like this! Why did you even help me out the other night when you knew you had all these fights coming up?”
“Would you rather I’d let those men rape you?” Jasper asked quietly, his eyes bright with anger.
“No.” Kait shook her head. “But…but you should have gone to hospital! You needed medical attention!”
“And risk that kind of publicity before a fight?” Jasper asked incredulously. “My opponents would have had a field day with that sort of information.”
Kait lowered her shoulders. So that was why he wouldn’t go to the hospital; he was worried about his reputation.
“Look, I appreciate you coming here to check in on me,” Jasper told her, glancing at the door through which she had entered. He was sending her away. He was already done with her. Kait could feel despair clamouring up her throat, but she swallowed it away.
“It’s because I’m a nice person,” she told him curtly. “When I spend the night with someone, it means something. Maybe that’s not the way for you. But I don’t do one night stands. I’m not like that. I thought we had something…a connection.”
Kait groaned at how needy she was sounding, but if this was the last time she got to see Jasper Duboix, she wanted him to know exactly how she was feeling.
“I thought you were different,” she continued. “I thought you were decent.”
“Seems like all I do is disappoint you.” Jasper looked down at his knee and readjusted the ice pack.
“If I walk through that door, I promise you won’t see me ever again,” Kait told him defiantly. “I’m not the girl who pines over a guy. I came here to tell you to stop pushing yourself so hard, not to plead with you to bed me one more time. The guy I met in the parking lot, the guy who saved me, he was a good guy, no, a great guy! I’m not sure why you insist on hiding him away like you do, but if want my advice, you should embrace him.”
Kait knew she was close to crying. She turned and stormed back towards the door.
“Wait.”
Jasper’s strong voice pulled her back as though it were magnetised. She turned on her heel and gazed in to those deep, alluring eyes which had softened.
“Don’t go.”
Kait tentatively approached the sofa where he was sitting.
“I’m glad you came tonight,” Jasper smiled at her, and Kait thought she might melt there and then on the spot. She remembered how amazing it felt to have his naked body pressed up against hers. All the anger drained out of her, replaced by pure, carnal desire. Glancing at Jasper she saw that same, desperate need reflected in his eyes.
“Lock the door,” he instructed her. Without hesitation, Kait fulfilled the order.
Chapter 12
Sunlight burned against Kait’s face. Swiping a hand across her eyes, she sat up and yawned. The light that crept in beneath the curtains swept across the bed and showed her that she wasn’t alone. A contented smile pulled on her lips as she looked at the sleeping figure beside her.
Jasper was lying on his side, his bare back exposed to her. In the early morning light, she could clearly see the patchwork of scars engraved into his skin. With the tip of her finger, she traced the line of a particularly big scar. She wondered if it was a battle wound for a particularly brutal fight or if Jasper had got it some other way. As she stroked his back, Jasper stirred and rolled over. He blinked away the fog of sleep and then smiled at Kait.
“Morning,” his voice was so irresistibly deep. Kait shuddered just hearing it.
“Good morning,” she managed to reply sweetly.
“What time is it?” Jasper asked as he rubbed a hand across his eyes.
“Half past eight,” Kait noted after stealing a quick glance at her bedside clock.
“I slept late,” Jasper sat up and rested back against the headboard. “Then again, I had a particularly busy night.”
He looked up and gazed at Kait, his eyes sparkling with mischief. She blushed as she knew he wasn’t referring to the match he had barely won. He was talking about what had happened between them.
Kait had told him how angry she was at him and how he needed to take better care of himself before they gave in to the sexual tension brewing between them. Jasper made love to her on the sofa in his dressing room. Then, still hungry for more, he went home with her. They could have gone back to his place, but now that Kait was aware of his celebrity status, she doubted that was a good idea. She wasn’t sure what was going on between her and Jasper, but she certainly didn’t need the media stepping in and speculating on what was happening.